Food for the gods (walnut and date bars)

Something to serve during the holidays:

1 1/2 CUPS AP FLOUR 
1/2 TSP BAKING POWDER 
3/4 CUP BUTTER, MELTED 
3 WHOLE EGGS 
1 1/2 CUPS BROWN SUGAR, PACKED 
1 1/2 CUPS PITTED DATES, CHOPPED 
1 1/2 CUPS WALNUTS, COARSELY CHOPPED 
3 TBS BRANDY 
1 1/2 TBS HONEY
1 1/2 TBS MOLASSES
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1. Preheat oven to 350 F (30-40 mins)
2. Sift flour and baking powder 3 times. Set aside
3. Beat eggs and brown sugar until thick and light colored. At speed 6 for 5 minutes, add the melted butter.
4. At low speed, add dry ingredients alternately with brandy, honey and molasses
5. Fold in walnuts and dates
6. Pour into aluminum lined 9″ x 13″ x 2″ rectangular pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 F then lower the temperature to 300 F and continue baking for another 35 minutes or until done.

YAY

Earlier this week, I went to the pet shop to get the pinktoe they had on sale. Unfortunately I was a bit short on cash. So the next day I went back to get her. I get there and told the employees (A) and (C) in the back that I wanted to get the pinktoe(B) they had. (C) told (A) that I had 7 tarantulas and that I was a ‘tarantula master,’ which made me smile. (A) went to the front to get a container. (A) came back, put the aquarium on the floor and attempted to catch (B). (B) was so fast that (A) couldn’t quite catch (B). So I took the container and took matters in my own hands and got (B). (A) asked me if any of my tarantulas are venomous, then backtracked and said they all are, but do I have any aggressive ones, I told (A) I had one, the OBT. (C) asked us how to tell the sexes of the T’s. (A) answered that the sexes could be identified when they are older. (C) is the employee that whenever she sees me coming in asks about my tarantulas. I was glad that (A) wasn’t afraid of getting the tarantula herself, and that she was knowledgeable about tarantulas.

Woohoo

Last night, when I checked my tarantula enclosures, I discovered that my OBT had molted that evening. All my tarantulas (not encluding the Chilean copper that I had gotten this past weekend) had molted in my care. But according to my breeder, my copper is close to molting, in about a month or so. My pinktoe looks like she’s about to molt any time soon too…

Surprise!!!

As I have posted earlier, my rosea had molted this morning. This afternoon, I checked the enclo to see how she’s doing. Her leg was propped up against the glass. To my utter surprise, I saw a tibial spur. From now on the tarantula formerly known as Gwen will be known as Spike…

Rosea molt

Last night at around 1:40 am, as usual, I looked at each of my T’s enclosures. I saw that my rosea (Gwen) was sideways, leaning on the wall. I came back a few minutes later and saw that she was on her back. I was so excited that she was finally molting. I went to bed in the other room. A few minutes later, I said to myself I had to watch her molt. So I turned the a/c off and went back to the ‘tarantula room’. I put the enclosure on the table. I brought the computer chair that was to be disposed of if I didn’t use it. I then positioned the chair in the room in front of the chair that I had just put in, so that I had somewhere to rest my feet as I watched Gwen molt. I turned on the lamp on the floor, after placing the shade on. To darken the room a bit, I put a pillowcase on the shade. I sat there, looking closely at her, still upside down, not having moved for quite a while. I found myself dozing off for a few minutes then waking up a few times, with the sound of cricket chirps as my lullaby. This happened for a long while. I glanced at the time and saw that it was close to 4 am. I decided that I couldn’t stay awake much longer, so as delicately as possible, I brought Gwen’s enclo to my bedroom. I put her on the table close to my bed. I had 2 forceps, a brush, and a container handy so I can take get the exuv out. I finally got to sleep. At around 8:30 that morning, I glanced at the enclo and found Gwen almost free. I observed her. About an hour later, she was finally free. So I took the exuv and saved it.

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Amazing

As usual, after I wake up I check at my T’s enclosures. When I looked at my other B. vagans’ enclosure I realized that it too had molted. Here are some pics..I included a size comparison of the exuvs of both my vagans..the one on the right is my smaller one, the one who molted first. 

Vagans molt

I witnessed the molt of the smaller of my 2 B. vagan slings. It started molting upright, then turned to its side. It’s cool watching it molt.

Near molt

It seems that 4 of my 5 T’s are close to molting…the rosea I know for a while, the avic, quite recently, the vagans, having not eaten in a while and there’s a difference in color on their abdomens makes me think that they are near as well…YAY!!!

OBT pics

Pics of my new P. murinus…aka OBT (orange bitey things)(orange baboon tarantula)

OBT

I went to the Petco in Union Square to just browse around and see if they had any tarantulas. To my disappointment, they didn’t have any. I asked the employee there if they had any he said they don’t and that tarantulas aren’t sold in the city..and that I had to go upstate. I was in New York already, so I asked the breeder that I know if I can get the OBT today. When he said yes, I was excited. So I went to the Bronx to meet up. It took him a while to get there, but the wait was worth it. Now I have an OBT.. around 1.5 inches. I guess I’m gonna stay at 5 tarantulas for now..I’m gonna wait a while to get my 6th..hehe..Gonna post pics soon…